Potatoe1 wrote:I can understand Toppers agenda here though. he stuck his neck way out and proclaimed that Cody was a bust so most of this stuff is just him trying to save face

That , I never did. Don't put words in my mouth to support your misguided agenda.

My agenda?

And what would that be?

I'm not the one who has ripped on Hodgson for 3 years (calling him a bust repeatedly) and then this season (even though its basically been universally accepted that he's coming along pretty well) continue to rip him.

You call him a defensive liability when he's been scored on no more frequently then our other forward. You freaked out because he tried a toe drag then made up some nonsense about how Hanks toe drag is NHL quality so it's ok. You are now claiming that he is bringing down Kesler and Booth, when the line looks just as poor with Higgens and Hansen. You now claim that Hodgsons offensive contribution isn't relevant because it's come against bad teams.

It's all just a bunch of poop, and I will be more then happy to call you on it.

Hodgson has some weakness to his game just like every rookie does, but he also has some strengths, none of which you have ever acknowledged.

If you were even slightly balanced in your critique I would put some value to it, but it's pretty obvious you're trying to save face here.

Topper wrote:That line is not gelling because of Silent 3, not inspite of him. Cody's only positives were when their wasn't traffic.

Wow, he played great when there was open ice against a shitty opponent Wow.

Your ripping of Hodgson is hit and miss. When it comes to last night it is miss. His goal came from being right in front. Edler's point less than rocket of a shot that got through Kipper was because of a deflection and a very good screen by Hodgson who was going to the net and got buried by a defender as the puck crossed the line. Kipper could probably have tracked that deflection if not for Hodgson going into traffic and paying a price.

Some of the open ice you say he is exploiting and playing well in, he is creating. Some of his difficulty in traffic comes from being to far ahead of the rush and his linemates in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's used to playing a more offensive role in CHL/AHL hockey, he is not going to learn the NHL game on the farm team. My only concern with him is his passing. He thinks the game very well, and he can really create out there, his passes just don't get through enough. Sometimes it's because his linemate just doesn't clue in and go to open ice, but sometimes Hodgson tries to force it. Some of it is just luck. If he works a bit with Hank I'm pretty sure Booth/Higgins and Kesler have a setup man in the making.

We've played some stinkers of our own so far this season, but never have we looked remotely as bad as Calgary looked last night. Slow, uncreative, undisciplined, uninspired, horrible power play.... it could easily have been 8-0 (8-2 if posts counted).

Yup, the Flames are a shitty hockey team.

EDIT: As an asside (<---C Wut), Luongo is still spending too much time on his knees for no reason whatsoever and was way too deep in the net on several occasions, one of them being the Morrison shot off the bar. But baby steps, baby steps...

Last edited by Rumsfeld on Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Cowards die a thousand times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.

Topper wrote:Cody was no where near traffic or the front of the net on his goal. Did someone mention Jason King in another thread? That goal was the result of hard work by Lappy and the strong net presence of Volpatti.

Oh, the Edler goal, the one where Cody cruised uncontested with Flame' defenders, Kesler did the same if you look, but man was he tough when he got flattened after the goal. As I said, incompetent coverage, not hard offence, and you already mentioned his defensive gaffs.

Could you please give us your definition of "near the front of the net"? Hodgson was 2-3 feet outside the blue ice when he scored. It was a very smart play to back door a defense that had shown poor coverage and was not paying attention to him. We have been missing chances like that on a routine basis, going back a few seasons.

On Edler's goal, the Calgary defender was in his face at the edge of the faceoff circle and on him like glue until he buried him at the top of the crease. There were also a few replays, shown on canucks.com, of close chances the team had in the first period and low and behold, right there at the edge of the crease in Hodgson with a defender in front of him or two on his back. Don't give us this BS that he's useless in traffic or not going into it.

There have been plenty of times where we have faced incompetent coverage and weak defense and come up short. How many times has Henrik gone the chicken-shit route and been given accolades for his play. Hank's goal against the Capital's is a perfect example, he hung back out of traffic then put the loose puck in the net when it came to him. A smart play. You are blasting Hodgson for not being the type of player you want him to be. Instead you should consider that he has 5 points (3G-2A) in 12 games and is an even +/-, those stats are already better than he has put up in his limited experience in previous years, and he hasn't even had a string of 4 games with the same linemates yet. Hodgson was not drafted to drive the net through traffic, he was drafted because he thinks the game well, has good hands, good passing ability, and would be a contributing piece of a line.

Last edited by Meds on Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Potatoe1 wrote:I'm not the one who has ripped on Hodgson for 3 years (calling him a bust repeatedly) and then this season (even though its basically been universally accepted that he's coming along pretty well) continue to rip him.

As I said, I have not called him a bust.

Potatoe1 wrote:You call him a defensive liability

As do you.

Potatoe1 wrote:You freaked out because he tried a toe drag then made up some nonsense about how Hanks toe drag is NHL quality so it's ok.

Freaked out? lol

Did you miss the fact the Cody's lame attempt lead to a turn over, Henrik's lead to a Canuck scoring chance?

Potatoe1 wrote:You are now claiming that he is bringing down Kesler and Booth

Well it certainly is. There are two players who go aggressively on the forecheck and win puck battles along the boards and one player who can not play the wing and can not win puck battles along the boards.

How long are you folks going to continue to have him coddled and make excuses for him? He could not platoon the centre position with Manny taking face offs/ Cody playing centre, why ask the best second line centre in the league (that's your line Spud) to platoon the spot with a rookie.

Until Cody gets his act together and can fulfill a vacant role on the team, he should be in Chicago.

Meds - I suggest you look at the replay of the Edler goal. Ever Flames fans are calling it Butler soft coverage.

The window is closing on this guy, the mulligan window for being new to these parts, but serioiusly...it's time for Baby Jesus Booth to start showing why he is getting Keith Ballard money cause so far the guy has been very unimpressive. At this juncture, I'd take Samuelsson back in a heartbeat.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate